Christmas Village is a family tradition

Many years ago, Eva and Max Tucker of Elmo bought a few small ceramic pieces to make a winter village scene for a Christmas decoration.

It takes some time and close observation to appreciate the many figures and details of the village in the Penney's storefront.

By JOHN SERFUSTINISun Advocate associate editor

Many years ago, Eva and Max Tucker of Elmo bought a few small ceramic pieces to make a winter village scene for a Christmas decoration. Year by year, they added a few more.

"There were seven children, and they also began buying pieces to add to the collection," said Maxine Larsen, a daughter of Max and Eva who works at the JC Penney store in Price. "Then the grandchilden added to that."

The village became something of a boom town, expanding from a living room display to filling an entire bedroom.

Now, as for the past four years, it fills the storefront window of the Penney's store. Maxine said the idea arose out of a casual conversation between her parents and Leslie Childs, the former manager of the store.

So on the Sunday after Halloween, Maxine's brother Wayne Tucker and Andy and Jennie Jensen, spend the morning hours installing the homes, banks, churches, restaurants, swimming swans and gliding ice skaters. No one has an exact count of all the pieces.

Sally Mauro students hand craft the paper snowflakes.

"Mom got tears in her eyes once when a man told her that it was better than any displays he had seen in expensive stores in big cities," Maxine said. "It makes her glad to share the collection with other people."